The Rush
by Layla Faye Sherwood
Summary: Being reckless was a strong attribute of mine. It also meant big trouble from Chasers, but I wasn't giving up on freedom. I was going to escape the School, even if it's the last thing I do.
1. Escaping,

It has been over two years since anyone has even tried to escape the wretched School. Security was boosted after everything died down a little. But the last person or shall I say persons that escaped the school were legendary now. All the experiments now looked up at them, The Flock.

Even though I've never been close to the School they were at, I knew they were still on the run, I just knew it, even if the Chasers didn't want us to think so. They said it made us want to rebel. But I've always been rebellious and reckless. It usually resulted in a major zap from Tasers from Chasers, but it was good anger management. Taking out a few Chasers now and then felt good.

Ever since Erasers were shut down Chasers now took their place. Erasers were half human half lupine but Chasers were a whole different set of evil. They were trained to kill. Whitecoats, yes they were still called that, would take babies and inject them with a certain chemical that made them want to kill. Chasers were ruthless, and thought to never become obsolete for when given a job, they would always, always complete their mission.

No matter the cost.

I have been beaten so many times by Chasers that I slowly became immune to the beatings and was numb to the constant tests. Chasers were of another species altogether. Literally. But being fifteen, you get tired of being locked up in a tiny hole in the wall. They no longer kept experiments in cages, after The Flock escaped after them way too many times. The holes reminded me constantly of jail cells, only ten times smaller and no bed or toilet or sink. After a Chaser opened my cell and said a few antagonizing words, I lost it. That was enough, and I couldn't take it anymore. Being infused with black jaguar DNA, I was much faster than anyone here. Even though no one knew how fast. I didn't even know, but you never know until you try, right? And so I did, I was never taught how to fight so basically I just ran. By now I knew my way around the School and I pushed through the door into the brightly lit, white highway. I quickly scanned the halls in which I was in. Nobody in sight, yet I knew it wouldn't last. I ran to the left and skidded to a halt.

A big, burly, bald, black man was standing in my way. Definitely Chaser. He took up half the hallway. I started towards the right but then faked and went to the left. Chasers might be deadly but they weren't the smartest unless put on a mission. Honestly, doing that move felt like I was playing football.

I ran until the hallway split into two different directions, I closed my eyes for a fraction of a second, trying to remember which one led to the exit sign that I was showed so many times for torture and which one led to the PATR, the Physical Abilities Test Room. I remembered the right led to the exit and I ran again. Three feet away from the exit and two more Chasers appeared, blocking my way to freedom. So close now, they were not going to stop me.

Not now, not ever again.

They lunged for me and I slid to the left, out of their reach. They were big and not very graceful, unlike me. They turned and lunged for me again, this time I flipped over the closest ones' shoulder and through the doors' window.

I landed on the broken glass, and it hurt like crazy. I winced in pain, feeling the broken shards shove into my foot. But I couldn't stop now. Not when I was so close.

I ran toward then fifteen feet tall chain link fence that surrounded the School, I noticed that on top of the fence were barbed wire that I was pretty sure was electric. I couldn't climb it even on my best day. The fence itself was electric, I knew that from experience. Chasers enjoyed pushing me into the fence just to watch me jerk in pain. I don't know how much volts were in it, but there were a lot. I couldn't climb it. Crap. But maybe…, maybe it would work. The doors behind me banged open and I turned around. A monster of a Chaser was in front of me. He had a gun pointed at me. Of course, guns were there favorite.

Ugh! Not mine though.

He laughed at me saying, "How pathetic you filthy things are. Scared to climb an electric fence." He laughed. "How pathetic." He repeated coldly.

"I'm not scared of anything, especially you ugly Chasers." I retorted. I was concentrating so hard, my head started to pound. Safety, safety was what I wanted, and maybe my powers would take me to it. I closed, or more like squinted, my eyes, knowing the Chaser would think I'd given up. Proving my point he said, "Giving up already, you weak rat."

"Only in your wildest dreams." I said snidely, concentrating even harder. I heard him growl and pull back the hammer of the small, deadly pistol. I knew he was taking aim, and I heard it when he pulled the trigger.

Waiting for the pain, I didn't move. I knew it would hurt, way more than the glass. But I knew that since I was concentrating on safety, the pain would intensify it.

Therefore causing me to teleport. That was one of my powers that I figured out I could do after the Chasers pushed me into the high voltage fence. It's triggered by immense pain. And sure enough, the pain came. Right through my right collar bone. I knew the bullet had completely shattered the bone.

But my theory was right, the immense pain caused the butterfly sensation to crawl up my spine. I was trying to stay conscious and so far it was working. But I didn't know how long I would last. Finally the sensation reached my nose and I felt myself do the twitchy nose thing that the witch off of Bewitched can do.

Which meant I had stopped. I opened my eyes just a tad, trying to stay conscious a while longer. Or at least to see where I had landed. The soft thud from whatever I landed on made a jolt go up my body. Even though it was a soft landing it still made me gasp out in pain. With my eyes fluttering constantly, I quickly glanced around the room. I saw six faces staring wide eyed at me from a makeshift kitchen table. I also saw a small Scottish looking dog growling at me from the lap of a blonde haired, blue eyed young girl that didn't look older than 10.

"That's…gettin'…real…old…"I whispered softly before slouching over and slipping into unconsciousness.

_

* * *

_

_I do not own Maximum Ride, but I do own my own characters. :)_

_Review if you like, don't if you don't._

_-L. F._


	2. Leaving,

The first thing that I noticed when I came to was the pain. And let me tell you, it was some kinda pain. I groaned out loud, jerking to my left, so I wouldn't be on my right side anymore. But the sudden movement made it hurt worse, causing me to muffle a scream. I squeezed my eyes tight, waiting for the pain to subside. And slowly it did. But then I heard voices.

"She's in pain, Fang! We're not going to leave her to die in the cold. She's going to stay here until she gets better. If she survives. You know what Ig said. The bullet was poisoned. And it shattered her bone." A girl was saying, her voice tired of arguing in the next room. Were they arguing about me? I hope not.

"But what if---" A male voice started to say, but was then cut off by another male voice.

"She's not a normal human. I don't think she will do anything. Remember a couple hours ago? When she was violently sick. That was her bodies way of rejecting the poison. Any human body would've succumbed to the pioson, she would've died well over an hour ago if she were human. Plus her bone is already healing. The shattered pieces are pulling themselves back together. She will be fine." A guy said, sounding mature and serious.

"Oh. That's good." The girls voice said, excitedly. But then more seriously, she said "And I don't want you messing with her, Fang."

I didn't hear anymore. I had to get out of here. If they knew that I wasn't normal by just watching me heal, I would be in huge trouble. Plus the Chasers would not let me go that easily. I was putting these people in danger by staying here. I slowly sat up. I looked at my right shoulder. It was wrapped up in gauze. They…helped… me? But why?

They were nice, and if I stayed here any longer, they would be killed. I stood up, pushing off the couch with my good hand. I wobbled and braced my left hand against the wall to keep me steady. The couch squeaked slightly, and the mumbles from the next room paused.

Oh no.

I had to get out of here. I searched frantically around the room, looking for any possible way out. I saw a window, but I was not crashing through that, not with this arm. I looked over to my right, there was a big wooden door that led to the porch, or at least I thought it did, I would find out soon enough. I stumbled over to the front door, wincing in pain as every little movement jarred my shoulder.

I had just touched the handle when a voice from behind me made me jump.

"What are you doing?!" The voice behind me practically yelled, but it was hushed and directed at me.

"I'm leaving, I have to." I said not turning around. I didn't want to see his face.

"You're not leaving." He said again. Now I started to feel trapped.

"Wanna bet?" I said, this time turning around. I put my good hand on my hip and stared at the face of an olive skinned guy. He was tall and his eyes were black, and so was his hair. Come to think of it, so was his wardrobe.

His arms were crossed and he looked determined, I bet he was determined on me not leaving. Just then, a girl a little shorter than him walked in standing behind him. She was about my height actually. She was blonde, or more of a dirty blonde. And she had deep brown eyes that matched mine. Another guy came in followed by two more girls, and a younger boy.

The last three looked tired, like they had just been woken up. The older guy had strawberry blonde hair, and…he looked blind by the way stared at me, like he was seeing through me. But he stood on the other side of the black haired guy. One of the younger girls was a mocha-y color. Brown hair, and brown eyes. The last two kids looked the same, both blonde both blue eyed.

They stood in front of me, like they were protecting each other. I didn't like the way this looked. It looked to much like Fighting Formation, the normal formation Chasers took when about to kick my butt when I was weak after just being tested, except it wasn't so uptight and strict looking. I felt my eyes widen. The horror sunk in, what if they were Chasers. I couldn't fight now, not with a shattered collar bone. I backed up against the door. Reaching behind me, I started feeling the door for a cool knob.

"Max, we're scaring her." The small, blonde girl whispered to the tall one that stood next to the black haired guy. How did she know that? Maybe it was my face that gave it away.

"No, it's not your face. It's your thoughts." The same girl said, directly to me this time. She stepped around the blind guy and took a step towards me.

"Angel…" The girl called Max started, but I gasped, something clicked… Max? Fang? Angel? Ig? I knew those names!

They were told in stories all the time at the School. The Flock. Oh my gosh. I was standing in front of the people I've always wanted to meet. I smiled. It was a huge smile, that scared even me. But then it went away. Horror replacing it. The School wanted me back, really bad, but getting back the Flock, six people or seven at one time would be a jackpot for them. I wasn't going to let that happen. I frantically reached behind me, I turned around and twisted the knob.

"No! Don't go!" Angel yelled.

"I have to, Angel. I'm putting you in danger by staying here." I whispered back. Keeping my hand on the knob and my body towards the door, I turned my head sideways to get a glimpse of Angel from out of the corner of my eye. "I'm putting everyone in danger."

"No, your not. We can take care of ourselves, and we can take care of you. Stay, just for awhile. And we move all the time. Please, just stay." She said. I saw her taking small steps towards me.

* * *

"There's not much that you don't already know, I'm like you, I suppose." I said using my good arm to shrug, and I turned around to face Angel and the rest of the Flock. "What else is there to know?"

"A lot of stuff." She said happily. "So since you turned around does this mean you're going to stay?"

"I…" I started to say 'I guess so for a little bit' but then I caught the look on Fang's face. It clearly stated 'If you say yes, I will make your stay here a nightmare'. He thought I was a danger to the Flock. And I figured I was, even though I didn't try to be. I didn't try to be a freak. It wasn't my fault I was taken when I was born. Its not my fault. I felt my eyes start to tear up. Still looking at Fang I said as calmly as I could, "I really don't think that's the best idea." I tore my eyes away from Fang's face and turned back towards the door. I twisted the knob and opened the door. Swinging it open I felt Angel behind me.

"Don't worry about Fang!" She said, obviously not wanting me to go, "He always does this!" She put her hand on my left shoulder and we both gasped.


	3. Dying,

When I heard her gasp, I knew she was seeing it too. It all played out in black and white. We were still in the Flock's house, I knew from the carpet floor we were standing on, but the scenery was different. In front of us were huge Chasers, but only two of them, two I didn't recognized. One had a beard and one looked Asian. They were closing in on a girl who was scrambling away from them until a tree stopped her, a girl that was awfully familiar and she was favoring her left arm from what I could tell.

"What's going on?" Angel whispered towards me.

I stiffened, when I noticed that they couldn't hear us I whispered back, "I have no idea."

I craned my head to look at the gap in between the two Chasers, trying to figure out who the familiar girl was… looking at her more closely I realized that that girl was... me?

"She's you!" Angel said at the same time I figured it out in my head.

"I know." I said.

"I think we're seeing what's gonna happen in the future." She said in thought.

"Really? Maybe, but then--" I started to say but then was cut off. The Chaser with a beard was starting to speak.

"You should've never tried to escape, mongrel. You wouldn't be about to die, at least not so soon." He said coldly, and harshly.

"And we're gonna make sure you suffer." The other one said just as menacingly with a smile.

"Do your worst," The other me said, trying to stay calm and cool but failing, for fear showed in her voice. And in her eyes. The bearded Chaser stepped forward and he yanked her hair, causing her to look at him.

"Oh trust me, we will. But first, do you wanna know how we found you?" He said, enjoying himself.

"I could care less," I spat out the words.

"Well saying that your about to die, I'll tell you anyway. The doctors figured out a way to track your teleportation waves. Since you did it two other times, they got worried. Thought you would use it to escape. They think ahead. They created the big machine you see over there." He pointed to a rectangular looking box that resembled and engine in size and shape, "And that's how we found you." He ended the short speech matter-of-factly.

The other me looked blank. All color drained from her face. She knew Chasers well enough and I knew Chasers well enough to know that now that they were done explaining, they were going to kill her.

I knew it, and she knew it.

I drew in a ragged breath as the other me just gave up, as I watched myself give up. Something I've only ever done twice in my whole fifteen years. But, somehow, I knew why she had given up.

She closed her eyes and waited, so did I. Her mouth was closed tight, as if she wasn't going to scream the scream that was building up inside of her.

We watched as she started to cry silent tears. The Chaser took his hand and we watched as his fingernails grew into sharp pointed daggers. He put the nails up under her chin and drug them down to the base of her neck. At first nothing happened but then a second later five wide gashes appeared on her neck, oozing dark blood, running into her dark hair. I think if I would've seen this in color I would've been sick.

"Feels great, doesn't it?" The Asian Chaser said jokingly.

He was enjoying it. That's another thing about Chasers. They had a sick sense of humor. Watching people bleed was like watching the most entertaining movie you could think of.

The other me's face was full of pain. I knew she couldn't help it. I flinched as she whimpered. Her lips tried not to tremble, but they did anyway. While the bearded Chaser pulled her hair harder, the Asian guy picked her up by the neck.

She didn't struggle, if a Chaser has you by the neck you do _not_ even try to get out. The Chaser then threw her against the nearest tree. With a sickening crack her body fell to the ground, limp.

She wasn't dead.

Not yet.

Just broken.

She laid on the ground on her belly, face down in the dirt. The bearded Chaser walked over to her and kicked her in the stomach, so hard in fact that she was flipped over, her face seemed washed of all dirt from the steady stream of tears, and her eyes were staring at the Chaser.

"Why won't you just die already!?" The Asian Chaser yelled at her, frustrated that she didn't scream in pain like he would've liked.

"Alright, I'm getting bored, just finish it." The bearded Chaser said while yawning to the Asian Chaser, turning away.

Not before giving her a hate filled, disgusted look. Giving her the same look the Asian Chaser took out his gun, aimed it at her chest and fired. She screamed in pain and her body jerked, he shot two more times, until he was satisfied that she was dead. She screamed and I knew it was the last thing that was going to come out of her mouth, a scream of pain. And as he walked away, I got a good look at myself.

She, I, had a steady stream of blood coming out of her, my, mouth and her, my, shirt was already soaked in her, my, own blood. Her face was turned towards us. Her face was blank, emotionless. Her eyes, my eyes, were cold, blank and lifeless...

She, I, had died.


	4. Breathing,

With a quick pull and a sudden flash of white light we were pulled out of the black and white scene and thrust into the wonderful world of color.

If only it were as wonderful as everyone made it out to be.

I collapsed to my knees and tried to push the sudden wave of nausea back down. I saw myself die. It was going to happen in the future, obviously because I've never died in the past.

"Angel! Angel! What happened? What?" Max asked frantically.

I scooted out of the way as everyone crowded around Angel. I hadn't noticed until just then that she was crying, she was crying a lot.

I touched my face to feel the wet paths the tears had taken. I was crying too. I mean can you honestly blame me?

"What did you do to her?!" Fang yelled at me. "What did you do?" He started to walk towards me.

"No, Fang!" Angel yelled stumbling over through the crowd to stand in front of me.

Ha, how wierd. All my life I've been trying to protect myself, which -let me tell you- never worked. And now, to top it all off, I was being protected by a girl no older than ten.

"She didn't hurt me!" Angel turned around and squatted to look me in the eyes.

I knew what she wanted, her eyes asked it. But she whispered the question out loud anyway, "Can I tell? Can I tell them what we saw?"

I looked at her, and then I looked at the faces of her family.

They were all worried, but they weren't worried about me. No. They were worried about their own, about their Angel.

My eyes met at Angel's evenly. I felt myself go cold in the center. Nobody cared about me like that.

"Why should I let you? It's going to happen regardless. If I leave now it might even happen sooner." I said coldly, faking excitement on the last sentence, I truly hated being alone.

I saw Angel flinch at my coldness. And I held back a grimace. I didn't try to be mean to her, she was the only one that was nice to me.

But it didn't make a difference. They were all going to leave in the end and so was I, so I had to be cold.

"We won't leave you! And I'm not going to let that happen, not if I can help it! The future is liable to change, and I plan on changing it!" She yelled.

I looked her in the eyes. She was sincere.

The iciness I was feeling in my chest melted a little. My face loosened slightly from it's hard shape that I felt it go into. She smiled slightly, and then I knew why they cared so much about her.

_Just trust me,_ Angel's voice in my head said calmly.

I looked at her for another moment and then nodded slightly.

She turned back to the Flock, her face dry now but still tear streaked.

"She's not leaving," Angel began fiercely, "Because if she does, she will die. We saw it, and I'm not going to let that happen. I'm not going to let her die."

My eyes which were looking at the lush green carpet shot up when I heard a few sharp intakes of breaths.

"She's… going to….die?" Nudge asked shakingly.

Angel just nodded. "And like I said, I'm not going to let that happen, not on my watch."

"When do you think whatever you saw will happen?" Max asked, she was trying to get a hold of things.

"We don't know." I said, looking directly at Max.

She eyed me seriously for a moment, then her gaze lightened and she said to me, "Well, I guess you're not going anywhere. We're going to have to keep an eye on you."

And then she turned to the rest of the Flock and clapped her hands together saying, "Off to bed, all of you!"

She walked behind them as if she were the shepherd and they were the sheep.

They all waved at me and turned to the stairs sleepily. Angel, last to go, ran over quickly to me and hugged my waist.

I had to raise my arms which made my right arm hurt, a lot. I didn't know what to do, I felt Fang's eyes on me but I didn't look up. I just looked at the top of Angel's head.

I'd never been hugged before.

Never before in my life.

But, really, what do you expect? Me to be full of love and joy and happiness, psh.

Yeah, right.

If you think that, then you must be forgetting where I was raised. She looked up at me with sad eyes. My guess was she read my thoughts.

I was going to have to learn to block her out, or keep them more to myself, my thoughts weren't exactly of butterflies and rainbows.

She squeezed me hard one last time before giving me a sad smile and running to catch up with Nudge. I lowered my arms slowly, wincing. I was feeling very… perplexed. This was too much for me to handle in one day.

Of course I was almost always on the brink of death. I was used to it.

But watching me die and actually having people cry about it, about me. And then to be hugged.

It was a major change.

A change that I was scared of.


	5. Naming,

I trudged over to the same couch I had woken up on. I sunk down slowly, and I closed my eyes.

Today started out great, I escaped the School _and_ I met the Flock.

But then again I got shot, passed out on their couch, watched myself die, and to top it all off, I now have someone who hates me.

What was his problem anyway? I never did anything to Fang. Like I said, it wasn't my fault I was taken and experimented on.

They had the same thing happen to them, so why was I being treated like that?

I felt the couch sink in weight and then I heard a warm voice beside me ask, "If you're not bird… then what are you?"

I cracked my eyes open an inch and I looked to my left. There I saw Iggy staring at me, or well what I guessed was where he thought my face was.

"What makes you think I'm infused with any animal DNA at all?" I asked him back.

He paused, thinking of an answer.

"Well…. I figured since you came from the School, there has to be something…_different_ about you." He said, trying to not sound rude.

"Yeah, you're right." I said, laughing.

"So…? What makes you different?" He said, obviously wanting to know… badly. His eyes opened wide, and a smile planted happily on his face. It was cute.

I laughed again saying, "You're cute."

"I'm not so sure you'll think that about me." A voice came from my other side making me jump.

I hadn't noticed Fang leave the room and come back with Max.

I was to busy in my conversation with Iggy to notice him come in again.

He was just so quiet, and that's what I hated. But what I hated even more was the fact that I was in between Fang and Iggy, and I was starting to feel claustrophobic.

I was about to stand up when Max stepped in front of me, blocking my only possible way to stand up and feel unclosed in.

I stared up at her, hoping she'll get the idea.

But no such luck.

She stood her ground.

I leaned back, not wanting any more drama than I already seemed to get these days.

But I had to make myself slow my breathing down, to make myself not want to freak out and go ballistic.

Oh, now that was hard to do.

"Why are you here?" Fang asked, trying to sound menacing. But I wasn't scared of him, not anymore.

I just watched myself die, and I was recovering from a shot wound. I think I could handle this kid with his "meanness."

"I escaped the School." I said, as if it were obvious.

"But how did you show up _here_?" Max said, persistent.

"I. Don't. Know. I really have no clue, all I know is that when I thought about safety…I ended up here." I said slowly, trying not to make it sound as if I were talking to someone who was really slow.

"Are you sure?" This time it was Fang who asked.

"Yes! I'm sure! I'm not lying, ask Angel, who by the way, I'm almost certain, is still up. She reads minds, and she'll tell you, that _I'm not lying_. I wouldn't lie."

She mulled this over, seeing that the fact that I didn't know how or why I was here, and the fact that I couldn't be any more honest than I already was, her face lightened again.

For the….third time that night? I couldn't remember, my eyes were starting to get heavy and for some reason I had trouble keeping my eyes open.

Already leaned back, I tilted my head so it was laying up against the very top of the cushion.

I let them close, knowing they were going to win anyway. Max chuckled quietly.

I felt the air move and the couch start to lose weight. I pried my eyes open once more to see Max pulling Fang's hand and Iggy stand up.

Max started to lead Fang away, but I couldn't help but ask in a small voice, looking down at the ground, "Should I leave now?"

Max looked over at me. She smiled and said, "No, you stay here. Well…actually, you need a shower. You should take one now, you'll feel better once you take one. Even though it might hurt a little."

I looked at her blankly.

"Come on, follow me."

Oh yes. I knew what a shower was, I'd just never taken one. Gross, I know. I stood up, ignoring my shoulder and my fifty pound eyelids and followed her. She led me up the stairs and into the bathroom. It was the second door on the right, and it was plain. I looked around, everything was grey. Grey walls, grey shower curtains, and even a grey mat by the tub. It was plain and boring.

"Fang's bathroom décor?" I asked, looking around the room. I was shocked to see the toilet and the tub was even a couple shades of grey.

"How'd you guess?" she said, laughing.

"It looks like him," I said shrugging with one arm, "It's actually pretty obvious."

"Oh. Well, he has a certain taste… in certain things." she smiled in a way that almost looked smug.

"I see you're happy he chose you. And that you're happy he loves you." I said, knowing my "sixth sense" (as I've always called it) to see things underneath certain actions would make her surprised.

I was right, her face was absolutely flabbergasted. "How…wait….what…huh?" she sputtered.

"I can read people, it's not hard. You had a smug look on just a second ago, I've learned that when people look like that, it means they've accomplished something. And when I look at Fang, he has this look in the very back of his eyes…barely even there, but you can see it…" I said, slowly trailing off. Max was leaning over the tub turning the knobs this way and that, trying to get a comfortable temperature. But she paused in the turning when I mentioned Fang. She turned slowly.

"What…what?" she said, not knowing the right words.

"Never mind it." I said waving my hand. I didn't want to explain anything right now.

I was way to tired, and Max was the one making me take a shower, after all.

She narrowed her eyes at me, but after a second of me staring blankly back, she turned backed around and started fiddling with the knobs again.

Not making any sign of a face, I laughed inside. She was soon going to learn that I kick some serious butt in a staring contest.

"There." she said standing up. She glanced at me, then at what I was wearing. "I'll also let you borrow some of my clothes."

"Um, thanks…"

"Don't worry about it." She said as she smiled. She seemed to be nice.

"Umm…" I started.

"What?"

"When would you like me to leave? Fang wants me gone, but then… He told me not to leave…. Then he gave me a you-better-not-stay look. What's up with that?" I asked, I honestly wanted to know, it confused me.

Most humans never did that. But then again, they aren't normal humans, actually they're not humans at all.

"I noticed that, and I'm not sure. I'll ask him about it later. And like I said earlier, you are not going anywhere." She smiled in a fake sweet smile and then she turned and went to the door.

So much for as nice as I thought. Before she left she turned back and looked at me over her shoulder. She looked at me for a long time, and then she finally asked, "Hey what's your name?"

I felt my eyes get wide. I've never been asked that. And I didn't like the name the scientists gave me all that much. I guess I had to make up one. Think, think, think, I got one. I had heard it once before.

"My name is… Fate." I smiled.

She smiled back at me once more, then said, "I'll bring you some clothes soon, Fate."

And then she left.

I just hoped she wouldn't figure out what the scientists called me, because I'm sure it wouldn't settle well with them.

* * *

Hmm, you like?

-L. F.


	6. Blinding,

When she left, I put the tips of my fingers in the water.

As I've said before, I've never had a bath. Super disgusting?

Yeah, I know.

But the water felt great. It was warm. And suddenly I was cold.

I took my good hand and untied the bow that held the "shirt" together.

The sad excuse of a shirt fell off easily.

It reminded me of one of the embarrassing garments that patients have to wear when they're in the hospital.

Except this wasn't as long and it swallowed me whole. I wiggled off my shorts and put my toes in the water.

Then, about ten seconds later, all but my head was in the water.

Now was the time to work my magic…or well let me rephrase that.

Now was the time to heal my shoulder. How, you ask? Easy to answer. It's another one of my many cool abilities.

Water, for some odd reason, speeds up the healing process. I rested my movable hand on my hurt shoulder and I concentrated.

Do you know that feeling that you get right after your leg falls asleep? The pins and needles feeling?

That's what it always felt like when I did this. Yeah, I've done it a lot. Saying as I'm the Chasers favorite play toy.

And when I say _play _toy I mean kick-around-like-a-coke-can toy.

So any time the "nice" Whitecoats would feed me, or give me water, I'd use the water to heal myself. I don't remember exactly how I figured out I could do it, I was just happy I could.

It was the only happiness I had in those horrid crates. The tingly feeling faded and I rolled my shoulder, happy I could do so.

A couple minutes later I was out of the tub and squeaky clean. I looked around and I saw the clothes Max had promised.

I slipped them on and tiptoed down the stairs. It was quiet and all the lights were off. _Finally, _I thought.

Maybe they were going to leave me alone for tonight. It was dark and I couldn't see where the couch was. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them my "night vision" kicked in.

Nothing was green like you see in the TV commercials. It was as if the lights weren't off. I saw the couch and started to head over to it.

But as soon as I sat down and stretched my arms up over my head, the light came on. I was blinded by the light, that -from a human's point of view- would seem dim. But since I'm no human and I had my "night vision" on, the light was ten times brighter than the Sun and it hurt like crazy. This just wasn't my day.

"Ahhhhh! Turn it off! Turn it off!" I yelled throwing my hands up to my face to cover my eyes and I dropped to my knees in a fetal position. When I heard that the switch flipped, I switched back to my normal, nonhuman eyesight.

"Can I turn it back on now?" A voice said, I'm pretty sure it was Iggy.

"Yeah, sure." I said putting my hands on my knees, keeping my eyes closed.

I heard him walk over and kneel down, "Ummm, are you okay?"

I felt my eyes watering and I lifted my hands to wipe my eyes and then that's when I felt the tears coming, and I sniffled. Where was all this coming from? I never cried, and I've cried twice in one day! I still couldn't see, but my hearing is above perfect, usually, and I heard Iggy sit down on his knees.

"No, I'm not okay! I'm never okay! I hate my life." I whispered, my voice quavering with every word. He pulled me close and I rested my head on his shoulders.

And then I cried, or well more like sobbed.

I've never cried like that, and I hated that Iggy had to see, or well hear me cry. I've got to stop this, I told myself to stop crying.

I couldn't break down, not here. I shouldn't ever. It was pathetic, I was pathetic. And so I wiped my eyes, backed away and sat down completely.

I opened my eyes and I could see, I just had some spots swimming in my vision. I blinked a couple times and the spots were gone.

"I'm sorry about that," I mumbled.

"It's okay, you obviously needed that. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." He whispered back at me, and then he winked at me.

"Are you sure you're blind?" I asked, giggling a little. I noticed that I had some major mood swings that I'd have to figure out.

"Absolutely positive, unless your well snow white."

"Oh, well yeah. You're right. I'm definitely not a princess." I said smiling. And then he laughed.

"You should get to bed, there'll be a lot of questions tomorrow. More than likely."

I sighed, "Yeah, I know. Goodnight."

"'Night Fate." He stood up, flipped off the lights and then walked up stairs. I stood and walked to the couch, I sat down and leaned back. I closed my eyes and fell asleep immediately.

* * *

Review, please?

-L. F.


	7. Realizing,

Hello there Deceit. Its nice to hear from you again.

I opened my eyes to see that I was floating. Everything was black, and then I realized I was dreaming.

_I see you've found Max._

H-hello? Who's there?

_It's just me. You know who I am._

I was starting to freak out.

_No, now don't freak out. I'm here to tell you something._

Right, what's so important that you have to talk to me in my dreams?

_It's the only way I can talk to you when you can give me your full attention. I am the Voice. Or that's what Max calls me._

You talk to Max too? Like this, in her dreams?

_Well, no. I can talk to her whenever I want to. Whether she wants me to or not. I get a kick out of it._

Um, okay?

_Sorry, got off topic. Anyway, do you know why your name is Deceit?_

It isn't Deceit anymore, its Fate.

_It has and always will be Deceit. Because its what you were born to do. To deceive people._

But why?

_Your life's purpose is to deceive people, especially Max and the flock. You've always been good at it, you're a natural born liar. Although that is your purpose, your mission, you have powers that you can't even begin to imagine. And the School will not stop until they have you. They will kill them in order to get you. If you don't want to live up to your name, then you mustn't stay any longer than you already have. I'm telling you this as a warning. If you stay you will be the reason the flock dies. If you truly want to change your name and your destiny, then run. Leave them and run. You will eventually be caught, but it will be for the better of the flock._

They won't let me leave. If you know Max and Fang, then you know they won't--

_Do you want them to die?_

Well, no. Of-of course not.

_Do you want to live up to your name, Deceit?_

No!

_Then you __**will **__find a way to leave. You will. And I will call you Fate, or you will be forever named Deceit. It's your choice._

Everything around me went from black to full color.

I was looking up at the sky and when I turned my head, everything was brown. So I kept looking up, but then I realized… I was falling.

I twisted my body to look down and there was an Eraser, looking up at me.

It opened its mouth to say with an evil grin, "Ever heard that dogs love to eat cats?"

And then I woke up suddenly, breathing hard with my hand on my chest.

An audible oof came from the floor. I leaned over and saw the dog laying belly-up on the floor. His tongue was hanging out and his tail was wagging. I laughed at the funny picture and he rolled his eyes.

"I seriously dislike cats, you know." he said to me.

"And I'm not the biggest fan of dogs either, buddy."

"Then we're at a mutual agreement?"

"I guess so… But if you don't like me then why were you sitting on me?"

"Hey, you might not be my most favorite person in the world, but I can tell when someone is having a nightmare. I was going to comfort you." he said smiling, or well smiling in the way dogs can. I laughed, "Well no need to worry about me. I'm fine."

"Alright. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go find Angel."

"Go right ahead." I said and I sat up. He walked off and I realized I had a lot of thinking to do.

* * *

Confusing, right?

- Layla.


	8. Cooking,

So, objective one: I had to find a way to leave without the flock suspecting a thing.

Objective two: try to not get killed in the process.

Objective three: try not to get _them _killed either.

I heard restlessness coming from upstairs. I decided to think about it later when they were all asleep.

I stood up and stretched, it felt good to move my arm again. I looked around the room, and I heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

I looked over and saw Iggy step down from the last step and start toward the kitchen.

"Good morning." He said as he walked past.

"Um, good morning.." I said back.

"Would you like to come help me?" He asked in a cheery voice.

"Help you do what, exactly?" I replied following him.

"Cook, duh."

"I don't know how though." I stare at him from across the counter.

He looks up in my exact direction and says with a smile, "No worries, I can teach you."

"Uh, well sure. This should be a fun learning experience." I said laughing. I walked over to where he stood in the middle of the kitchen.

"What do you want for breakfast, Fate?"

"I don't know, I've never had anything but cold leftover soup my entire life."

He looked at me for a few seconds, shocked. Then he walked over to the fridge and started pulling out random objects, I saw a few things that I recognized, but others I had no clue of what they were.

He set them all out one by one on the countertop, when he was done he stood back and said while laughing, "We are going to have a biiiggg breakfast this morning."

"What do you mean?"

"You've never eaten anything but soup, so I'm giving you a breakfast you'll never forget." He said with a smile.

"And I'm going to help make it? What if I mess it up?"

"You won't, I've had Max in here, she didn't _completely _blow everything up," he said and laughed, "so I'm sure you will be fine."

I just stared at him and then he clapped and said, "Let's get to cookin'!"

I soon learned that it hurts when you get popped with bacon grease, flour gets very messy, eggs are really slimy, and the oven gets extremely hot.

I had flour on my face from where Iggy had thrown it at me, and when I threw it back his entire face was powdered.

I ended up on the floor I was laughing so hard. When the food was done, we put it on the table and it seemed like just at that time everyone got up all at once and crowded around the table.

All at once everyone started saying, "Smells great!" or "Looks amazing!"

"Sit down everyone and chow down." Iggy said to the flock.

They sure can follow orders when it came to food.

Iggy sat down and waved for me to sit in the chair beside him.

The flock all turned to look and give an accepting nod, excluding Fang who had already sat down in a chair and had already buttered three biscuits.

I walked over to the chair and slowly sat down. After I sat down, the rest followed. I looked awkwardly at my plate. I looked down at my hands and twiddled my thumbs.

"Don't be scared, eat up. We won't bite, well Total might. But he's a dog." Angel said quietly in my direction.

I looked over at Total, and he gave a big bacon filled toothy grin.

I smiled back at him, and reached for a piece of bacon, I picked it up and started nibbling on the corner.

After that everyone started grabbing at different pieces of food at once. In about five minutes all I could hear was chewing.

After the bacon, I ate three eggs, two biscuits and another piece of bacon.

After that I felt like I was going to explode. I walked over to the couch and flopped down in it soft cushion.

Iggy sat down beside me and asked, "Best breakfast ever?"

"Definitely the best." I said smiling at him.

"Good that's what I was hoping for." He said smiling back at me.

"This will definitely be something to remember." I said sadly, then I sighed when I saw Fang get up from his chair and turn his attention on me.

Interrogation time.

* * *

New chapter.

Reviews, anyone? :)

Thanks for reading,

-L. F. S.


	9. Interrogating,

I figured I would be bombarded with twenty different questions right then as soon as he stood up.

But when he glanced at me, he turned back to Max nodded at her and she turned and said, "Alright, all kids under the age of fifteen, go out and play!"

"But Maaaxxxxx, we don't wannnaaaa." Nudge whined.

"No if, ands, or buts about it. Out." She said sternly.

Nudge stamped her foot and stormed out of the room. Gazzy, Angel, and Total followed quietly.

She followed them to the door, then shut it quietly behind them.

She turned around her smile fading into a serious expression.

Fang pulled a chair up in front of me, and Max did too.

"You're from the school?" Fang asked again.

"How many times are you going to ask that question?" I asked right back.

"Until we know that you aren't lying to us." Max answered for him.

"How do you want me to prove it?"

"If you're from the school, then what kind of experiment are you?" Iggy asked again.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you a test tube baby?" Max asked.

"Yes." I answered.

"So you're genetics are messed up too?" Iggy asked.

"Too?"

"I meant, you have something freaky mixed in with your DNA, right?" Iggy corrected himself.

"Um, yupp." I said trying to stifle a laugh.

"What's funny?" Fang asked.

"I'm completely opposite than you though."

"How so?" Max asked, looking slightly intrigued.

"How do I put this… I have quite the animal instinct, I guess you could say." I said smiling.

"As in?" Fang asked.

"I'm less human, but I'm not a bird. I definitely can _not _fly."

"Quit stalling and just tell us what you are, you're not helping yourself." Fang said.

Good God, was he always like this? Always no fun and games?

"Helping myself do what? Gain your trust? It's not like I'm going to stay long enough to need it." I scoffed at him.

"You will need it, I'm sure the school is after you, right? They will stop at nothing to get you back, right? You're an asset to them, so they need you, am I right?"

I looked away from her face and simply said, "Yeah."

"Then you _will _need our trust, we can help you. You just have to let us."

"But you don't understand." I said, still looking at the ground.

"What is there that we don't understand?" Fang asked.

"They will kill you. Erasers no longer exist, you know that, right? Well after they became obsolete, they created a new human being all together. One that is horrible to deal with, when they're put to a mission, they follow it out. They're new mission I'm guessing is to bring me back, they will stop at nothing _to __**get **__me back_. They don't play, trust me on that one."

"We'll be ready for them." Max said.

"That's just the thing, you won't be," I said standing up, I was getting frustrated, "Nobody will be ready! They are rutheless, and lethal. They think pushing me into an electric fence is funny for them! I survive it because I have that power, you don't. It's not the matter of you protecting me, it's the matter of whether or not if _I_ can protect _you_."

They couldn't say anything. And that's when I said, "That's why I have to leave."

"But you can't leave, Fate. You can't, I like you too much, and there's something about you that I can't read. You're blocking something, and not many people can block things from _me._ You can't leave until I find out what it is that you're keeping from us. It might sound selfish, but it's been bothering me ever since you showed up out of no where in our house." Angel said, very seriously, walking in through the door.

"She's hiding something?" Fang asked.

"Yes, but I don't know what."

"No Fang, we can't force it out of her. She'll tell us when she wants to." Max said, reading the look on his face.

"What if she's a spy for the school? Then what?"

"It's not that, Fang. It's not that." Angel answered, eyeing me out of the corner of her eye.

"Like I said, she'll tell us when she wants to," Max stressed for the second time, "so stop asking, Fang."

Realizing the tension was disappearing, Iggy then raised his hand like he was in school, waiting to be called on by a teacher.

"What?" asked Max.

"Can I ask a question that was never answered?" Iggy asked.

"What question would that be, Ig?" I asked him. He looked at me with such a 'duh!' kind of stare and said, "For the love of God, Fate. What are you?!"

I laughed and said mysteriously, "I can show you better than I can tell you."

* * *

New chapter, any reviews?

It's much appreciated. :)

-L. F. S.


	10. Listening,

I said I'd show them, and so I did. I walked outside where Gazzy and Nudge were playing what looked like air tag, and I said, "I am different from you guys, like I said, I'm not bird. I'm opposite because I'm what eats birds."

"A cat?" Iggy asked perplexed.

"Kind of, actually yeah. Pretty much. But it's odd, because I don't turn into a cat or anything. You guys have amazing wings, all I get is a tail and pointy ears. My teeth grow some but--"

"Aren't you going to show us?" Fang asked.

"Yeah, I was just saying before hand."

"Well get on with it already." Fang said. Max elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow." He murmured rubbing his side.

"Hey Max, can I borrow a rubber band?"

"Sure." She said pulling one off of her risk and handing it to me.

"Oh, and one more thing." I said while putting my hair up.

"And that would be?" Nudge asked landing beside Angel.

"I promise I won't bite. I said, I winked at Gazzy and backed up a few steps and I closed my eyes.

That's when I could feel the transformation begin, I could feel my canines growing in length, they were already longer than average, but they grew even longer now.

I could feel my tail slowly work its way up to wrap around my hand, I swear it had a mind of its own.

My ears didn't change much, they never do. They became a little more pointed, like always.

I couldn't feel it, but I knew my hair had gone from a light brown, to a black color.

And when I opened my eyes, I knew that my pupils had become slants.

One thing that was new, I noticed that once it was over, the wind died down and my hair stopped moving.

"So," I said, "what do you think?" I said.

They all just said, "Wow."

"And you said that wasn't cool?" Iggy said quietly, after Fang told him what was happening.

When I looked down at my tail, I noticed it was wrapped around my arm.

I whispered, "Let go!" and it did.

But when I looked up, the looks on their faces were so funny that I couldn't help but laugh.

"Can I play with your tail?" Angel asked, mesmerized by its swishing motions.

"Um, sure. I suppose you can, Angel." I said with a small smile.

She ran over and touched my tail, it quivered and jerked away from her touch. She tried grabbing it but it moved the opposite way of her hand.

While she was playing with it, I looked at the flocks' faces.

Max was shocked, Fang looked a little impressed.

Iggy was staring open mouthed in my direction.

Nudge was speechless, Gazzy looked amazed.

That's when I remembered to tell Angel about the tail thing.

"Just don't pull---yaow!" I yelled, too late, as she pulled my tail hard. I wasn't used to it, the Chasers learned not to pull my tail, my tail was really sensitive to pain.

It caused me to teleport.

"Oops, sorry Fate! I didn't mean to, I swear." Angel said, but I couldn't help it.

I could hear Fang laughing off to the side.

The pain started sending chills down my spine.

They're kind of like convulsions. I wasn't mad, so I softly whispered, "I'm not mad." To Angel, but I had to close my eyes anyway.

I dropped to my knees as a convulsion flipped me to where I was laying on my back.

I tried remaining calm while my convulsions started to slow, I whimpered a few times as the tingling sensation started to run up my spine.

I was going to teleport, that's when I opened my eyes and scooted away from Angel.

I didn't want her to go with me, wherever I was going.

I pictured the same yard, my nose twitched and I was gone. I landed with an oof a few feet from where I had pictured.

So pretty much, I landed on the lowest branch of a big oak tree.

"Fate?" Max called.

"I'm coming, I just have to get down from this tree." I said.

I stood up on the branch with ease.

I decided that I wanted to jump, I've never done it before and I mean, don't cats always land on their feet?

So acrobatically I swung and flipped my way up the tree.

I was better than a gymnast on the uneven bars.

The first branch above me, I grabbed it and started swinging to where I swung around and landed on my feet, flatly.

I repeated it, with different tricks until I was at the top.

While I was up there, before I jumped below I surveyed my surroundings.

That's when I heard something off in the distance.

Twigs breaking under big footsteps.

I knew those steps, Chaser steps.

They were miles off. But I had the best hearing ever created.

I heard them huffing, that's when I decided it was time to move. I swung at the top and flipped to the ground, two feet in front of Max.

Perfect landing.

"We have to leave." I said urgently.

"Ha, right. Nice show, by the way."

"I'm being serious. They're coming for me, I can hear them now," I said, becoming frantic, "I don't want to risk your guys' lives. I really don't." Max understood.

She nodded at Fang, and then she said, "Guys, pack for a few days. We'll come back soon."

They all gave her sharp nods and hurried off in the house. Iggy and Fang followed them in.

Max stayed before saying, "You're not coming inside?"

"I'm going to stay out here and listen out. Hurry up and go."

She nodded and rushed in the house. I sat on the ground, crossed my legs and did the thing I do best.

I listened.

* * *

I'm kind of getting excited.

Are you?

Review for yes. :)

- L. F. S.


	11. Wishful Thinking,

I wasn't sitting very long before I heard them close the door and walk up behind me.

"We're ready." Max said.

"About time too, we don't have very long." I said standing up and looking at them. I noticed Gazzy was staring at me, which was weird.

"What is it Gazzy?" I said.

"Oh, nothing. Sorry. It's just, your eyes are so cool!" He said with a big smile on his face. I smirked, I was glad someone could be happy in a time like this.

"When are we leaving, Max?" I asked Max trying to rush into leaving. I didn't want to stick around any longer than I had too.

"We'll fly, but how will you get to where we're going?" She asked.

I laughed a quick laugh and said, "I'll run."

"How fast can you run?" Nudge asked.

"I'll show you, but hurry. Take off, go on a flight, whatever you guys call getting into the air. We can't waste any time." I said in a fast whisper.

Max smiled and said, "Come on guys, let's 'take off'."

Angel shot right up and Nudge took off at a run. Gazzy skipped two steps and opened his wings wide. Iggy jumped and so did Fang. Max ran, gaining speed and she opened her wings and flew to where the others waited.

I stood still and listened for a few minutes, I focused in on their footsteps. They were close, so close in fact I heard every leaf they crunched.

And every curse they made for making the long trek to try to find me.

They were already angry.

I looked up at Max and the others, they seemed to be waiting for my call.

I waved them to go on, and they started to fly west from their house. I heard them coming closer and that's when I took off.

I ran, and I ran fast. The only time I ever had to run was when they were testing me. They never turned it on this fast though.

So I never knew I could ever run this fast.

But boy, it was exhilarating. I loved everything about running.

For me, it was just like flying.

I started smiling while I was running, I wasn't even breathing hard. But something was off that made my smile fade from my face.

I heard something behind me. When I looked back for a split second, I saw the evil grins of Chasers.

That's when I made a gut feeling decision.

I came to a sudden halt.

The Chasers ran past me, when they turned their heads to look back at me and they ran into a tree. They fell down, and that's when I grabbed the nearest branch and pulled myself up.

I swung from each branch to the next until I was at the top of the tree.

The Chasers were still knocked out, but they'd wake up in a few seconds.

So I looked around. Forward, nothing. Sides, nothing either. When I looked behind me that's when I saw them.

That struck me as interesting.

I ran faster than they could fly. They weren't that far behind. I knew they would see me, and so I waved, trying hard to get their attention.

But that's when I felt the branch below me have a sudden weight that wasn't their before.

I looked down, and a Chaser with thick curly brown hair was trying to reach for my leg, the other Chaser, the same Asian one from the future, wasn't far behind him.

I jerked my leg out of the way, I looked for the closest tree. It was maybe three yards away, I could make it.

I knew I could. And so I pushed off the branch I was on and grabbed the other branch with one hand.

I grabbed on with the other hand and swung to the next tree that was closest. I was having fun, until I saw a Chaser in the tree I was about to swing to.

The curly haired one was in the tree behind me, the Asian one was in front of me.

I was trapped for the umpteenth billionth time in my life.

"So you have me cornered, now what?" I said while looking around in the sky for a sign of the flock. I saw small specks in the sky, they had gained altitude.

"Now we're going to take you back." the Asian said.

* * *

So, will she or won't she?

Review to find out. ;)

- L. F. S.


	12. Fighting,

"Over my dead body," I scoffed loudly.

"So be it," the curly haired one said with an evil grin. And he pulled out a massive gun that was twice the size of his hand, but was surprisingly still a hand gun.

"Put it down," said the Asian, " You remember what the Boss said. Mission 1. Bring her back alive, Mission 2. Never put her in pain. We'll just have to search for her again."

The other Chaser, looking disappointed, put the gun down slowly. While I had my eyes focused on him, I didn't realize that the Asian Chaser made a lunge for my throat.

He missed but grabbed my shoulders to keep falling.

What did he think I was? Super glued to the tree?

His weight pulled me off my limb and we went tumbling down to the ground.

My hands flailing, trying to grab onto something only caught air and my face hit the trunk of the tree with an audible crack.

It felt like I broke my jaw and when I felt it, it felt like there were multiple ditches in my face, blood running, or more like gushing down my cheek.

The curly haired Chaser jumped down behind me and put me in a choke hold while the other, suddenly forgetting his orders stood up and kicked me in the stomach.

I spit out blood, laughed and said, "Feels like old times, doesn't it guys?"

The Asian smiling, punched me in my what I thought was broken jaw, and if the fall didn't break it that punch definitely did.

I let out a gasp in pain and I was too absorbed by agony to think about being safe.

But all I could think about was never going back, never being tested, never being made to run on a treadmill, never being shoved against the electric fence, never again.

And I was suddenly overcome with so much rage that I couldn't even see anymore, all I saw was a red, hazy fog. That's when my instincts took over.

With all my strength I elbowed the Chaser holding me in the groin, and as he let go and fell to the ground, I head butted the Chaser in front of me.

His head flew back for a millisecond then he glared at me through blood thirsty eyes.

"I'm never going back. You won't make me." I growled fiercely.

"We'll just see about that." He retaliated angrily.

His friend finally stood up and took steps toward me. I slowly backed away until he started to charge.

Poor idiot should've taken a better look at his surroundings.

When he was within two steps I slid out of the way and he went head first, into the tree.

Everything went silent as we heard a sickening crack of his neck breaking.

He slumped to the ground eyes glazing over.

I smiled wickedly and the Asian Chaser looked at me in utter shock.

I ran at him, swinging. He dodged my punches and tried fighting back, but I was too angry, too fired up.

I jumped, spun in the air and kicked him in his face.

His face looked like it had turn a 90 degree angle and he fell to the ground.

That's when I ran over, reached down to the dead Chaser pulled out his gun, aimed and said in the cruelest voice I could muster, "Care to join him?"

My thumb pulled back the hammer and I excitedly began to squeeze the trigger, finally... I was taking back my life that had been under control since the day I opened my eyes.

This was, and always has been MY life.

And I was going to fight for it.

* * *

New chapter.

Like? Don't like?

Tell me all about it by clicking the review button.

Thanks for those who have reviewed. You inspire me.

Love,

LFS.


	13. Running,

I squeezed the trigger, this is something I've been waiting for my whole life no matter how horrible and cruel it sounds.

I'm not blood thirsty, I'm not a natural born killer.

But _this_, I've been wanting... Revenge.

Sweet, sweet, revenge.

Just when I felt as if the bullet was about to explode from the barrel I heard a voice from behind me screaming my name, "Fate! Fate, don't do it! Fate!"

It's almost as if the voice had been calling my name for a few minutes.

I turned around to see Angel, crying and screaming. The rest of the flock standing a few steps behind her.

"He deserves it Angel, they all do." I said in a angrily. At that moment I felt nothing but anger towards everyone in my sight. Rage coursed through my veins.

"No one deserves to die Fate, you should know that. You don't need to murder him… You shouldn't kill him. He might've done some horrible things, but he's never known any better, none of them have. They're experiments too. Feel sorry for them, not kill them." She whispered sadly.

The more she talked to me, the more the red haze in my vision disappeared.

My heart beat slowed, my breathing calmed.

Things started to become clear and it was as if I had no idea what had happened within the last ten minutes.

I felt a weight in my hand and I looked down.

When did I find a gun?

I heard an almost silent whimper and I turned around.

A Chaser was dead by a tree and I had another one on the ground, shaking.

With what I felt was a blank stare, I pointed the gun at the tree and shot the last rounds until there were no more.

I then threw the gun as far as I possibly could and it sailed above the trees, I heard it land a few miles away.

I held my head low and turned.

And I ran, I bolted for the darkness.

Or at least… I tried.

I smacked into something hard and felt like I should've been thrown to the ground.

But I felt two strong arms wrap around me, hold me close and I heard a voice whisper softly, "Where do you think you're going?"

I froze, but in the same instant I realized it was Iggy.

I didn't even bother opening my eyes.

I wrapped my arms around his chest and whispered back, "I want to go away, somewhere far away. Where no one can find me. Where no one can hurt you."

"We all wish that, we all want to be worry free. But it'll never happen. We all know that, but we try our best anyway. But you're part of this flock now Fate, _you_ can't try to protect _us_ anymore. We have to protect each other. We're a family."

Even though I've only heard of the movie Lilo and Stitch I still whispered, "Ohana?"

I felt Iggy laugh a quiet laugh and say "Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten."

And at that, I cried in Iggys' arms.

For the second time.

But it didn't feel awkward, it felt… right.

* * *

Ah, Lilo and Stitch. I love that movie. I do not own of course.

What do you think?

Review and tell me.

If you have any suggestions or possible small or big ideas, tell me.

I might try to add it into the story somehow...

Thanks!

Love,

LFS.


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